


HAYATO's Revenge

by MissPerla09



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Gen, Idol Life, Introverts, Quartet Night - Freeform, Starish - Freeform, Utapri season 2, extroverts - Freeform, start over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2019-06-16 23:13:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15447966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissPerla09/pseuds/MissPerla09
Summary: HAYATO was Tokiya’s past. He was the persona that Tokiya really wanted to erase from everyone’s mind. Restless nights passed and he could debut again as Ichinose Tokiya, the T of STARISH. Yet, not all pasts were meant to be forgotten. HAYATO came back out of nowhere and it seemed the only thing he bothered was causing drama and frenzy in Tokiya’s life including his liking for Haruka.Disclaimer: I don't own Uta no Prince Sama. I just own the plot.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea popped out when I read this; ‘Tokiya dislikes Otoya for certain degree because the redhead reminds him of HAYATO’ in Tokiya’s wiki. I was like, ‘poor Otoya though. He didn’t anything wrong’ and to see Tokiya had to put up with an energetic but kind-hearted senpai like Reiji was just exciting to me! It seemed like the more he thought that Otoya was loud, the more people with similar personality invaded his life. That’s when I thought, ‘how about HAYATO? Should I include him as well?’
> 
> And then, this story started this way…

 

 ** **The**** sun’s rays were mellow but convivial for the new residents of Master Course dorm.The whole gigantic building was so quiet, save for the seldom chirps from random birds but the oomph of youth was echoed everywhere by certain six boys. Given they just debuted as an idol with STARISH as their brand, it was normal for them to be energetic.

One of the six boys was Ichinose Tokiya. Strolling along the corridor with the third box of his belongings, his blue eyes observed the building that became his home henceforth in a deep interest. Normal people would be drained to move in and out of the vast building ad infinitum just to move their things around but not for the Mr. Perfectionist. It was not merely because he hated procrastination and languor the most but he was also ecstatic to be tired.

For him, it was too early to be tired when his new life just began.

His new life as an idol with his true identity. Not as HAYATO who was his fake persona. Not the HAYATO who had to act frivolously both off- and on-screen no matter how miserable and jaded Tokiya felt inside. Not the HAYATO who took the credit for Tokiya’s uphill struggle.

With his determination to start over, he enrolled in Saotome Academy while still working as HAYATO. At that time, his mind and soul had fixed the ‘debut again’ phrase as his goal and would use this second chance at his best.

Yet, the destiny had plotted something atypical for him and his teammates.

He aimed to debut as a soloist with Nanami Haruka as his composer but later found himself involved in Haruka’s ‘propaganda’ aka putting six of them together in a group. Like Ren, he was skeptical about her idea at first but Maji Love 1000% had proved her right.

Their debut with the song was exceptional. STARISH gained the spotlight fast and had been dubbed as one of the most promising idol groups. Even Tokiya did not really approve of the way Shining Saotome used HAYATO’s popularity to market STARISH, he stomached it since debuting as the group member meant that he could leave the persona for good.

At the night of their debut, it was the most mind-blowing stage performance that he had ever participated in his life. He could feel the wonderful and heartening energy, both from the audience and his teammates as they were connected by Haruka’s song. The audience screamed their names during their solo parts and every time they reached the chorus, they just could not stop cheering and being as animated as them.

Haruka was right. Debuting in a band was the best decision. Plus, Tokiya gained himself five close friends and he became more open with them.

Speaking about Haruka…

“Auchh!” Tokiya’s trail of mind was interrupted by a sound of a chipmunk-resembling yelp from someone after she banged on his side.

It was Nanami Haruka, sitting on a floor while wincing in pain.

Unlike his friends, Tokiya was the only one in STARISH who was blessed with classically romantic moments with Haruka such as…

Bumping into and staring at each other for a few seconds. If they dropped something and wanted to pick it up again, the unintentionally hand-touching moment would take place. They would awkwardly remove their hands before standing up in unison.

They bumped into each other a lot since their first meeting and today was no different.

But, Tokiya was a man who spent most of his life alone and had a lot of things to learn when it comes to interpersonal communication. Instead of asking her whether she was alright or not, the vocalist only stared blankly at the cute composer. Little did he know that the response just reduced his point as a gentleman.

“Ichi… Ichinose-san?” She exclaimed. Slightly dramatic he could say but it was still better than him who could care less about the girl’s condition after bumping into him so hard. All he thought was he needed to put back his scattered CDs and magazine into the box.

“Unbelievable. You are still as clumsy as ever,” he remarked. He did not mean to scold her but his voice always sounded colder than he intended to.

 _Clumsy?_ Haruka titled her head as the word echoed in her mind.  _Was I being clumsy just now? I believe both of us bumped into each other. It’s not like I am the one who crashed him._

“I… I am sorry. Ichinose-san, have you moved in here?” Haruka asked, decided to ignore her internal questions.

“I am just getting started. I never finish today if I don’t get moving,” he replied.

They stood up almost in unison and that was when the typical awkwardness that Haruka felt when she was alone with a stranger filled the air. With Otoya, Natsuki, and Syo who she met a while ago, she did not feel awkward since natural conversation always knew how to find their ways. Including Masato and Ren, they all looked so welcoming, to begin with.

But with Tokiya, it was different. There was always a strange aura around him that made him looked stand-offish. Plus, it was probably because he was HAYATO, the person who inspired her to be a composer so she felt that they were still on a different level.

There was still an unspoken gap between them.

On the spur of the moment, Tokiya leaned closer to her face.

“Is there something wrong?” He asked, seriously and that was when the composer realized that she was staring at him intently.

“N… No, nothing,” she stammered but it just drew an amused chuckle from Tokiya.

 _He’s… laughing! For some reason, it always makes me happy whenever I see Ichinose-san smiling or laughing,_  Haruka thought.

“My mistake. I am accustomed to talking harshly with you, as well,” Tokiya admitted. His eyes pierced straight at hers and she could not bring herself to look away. “We are both professionals now. Let’s give it everything we have.”

“Huh? Okay!” Haruka said, cheerfully.

 _It felt nice when you could hear your idol himself encourage you,_  the girl mentally remarked.

* * *

****After****  meeting Shining Saotome, Ringo and Hyuga Ryuya rather in a colorful setting, they were informed that they had their senior group, QUARTET NIGHT to guide them. While all nine of them made their way to their rooms while talking to each other, Tokiya busied himself by wondering about just where the heck did the fourth member aka Camus disappeared after QUARTET NIGHT performing Poison Kiss. The count from Permafrost mysteriously disappeared when the other three members got their clothes changed in a fraction of a second.

Speaking about QUARTET NIGHT members…

The first impression lasted longer and that was the first thing that crossed Tokiya’s mind as the seniors opened their mouths. Tokiya was aware that his own personality was far from being likable like Otoya or genial like Natsuki but if those people thought that they wanted STARISH to see them as the snobbish seniors, they had done a  _very_  good job because…

Mikaze Ai, the first senior bluntly stated that he was only interested in STARISH as his test subject and would collect data from six of them (which made him sound like a scientist). He was also insanely poker-faced (What was he? A robot?). Since he was assigned to be Natsuki and Syo’s senior, he wondered what kind of future was waiting for his friends.

The next senior was Kurosaki Ranmaru. The way he dressed up and inserted a lot of curses in his lines had established himself as a typical rocker in Tokiya’s eyes. Right from the beginning, he stressed that he did not want to teach anything to STARISH simply because they were not special and they would not go far if they relied on other people.

Yet, it tickled Tokiya’s fancy when Ranmaru ended up having two rich boys, Ren and Masato as his juniors. When the ex-rocker was so confident to disparage STARISH, those two scions would be the best guys to shut him up. Syo would get easily emotional which might lead to a fist fight while Natsuki would get on Ranmaru’s nerves by saying he was cute and what not. The naïve Otoya would apologize right away while Tokiya would ignore Ranmaru’s scorn simply because he did not want to worsen the situation.

Ranmaru did not have any idea how sharp-tongued Ren and Masato could be. Unlike Syo, the childhood friends did not waste their energy in wrangling. Instead, they would speak back in a soft but sardonic way. It was all at one go and it managed to make the rocker went berserk before Kotobuki Reiji, the leader of QUARTET NIGHT comforted him.

“You can ask us anything. After all, we’ll be sharing a room!”

As soon as those horrifying words escaped from Reiji’s mouth, Tokiya could see how blue Ren, Masato, and Syo’s face turned out. Tokiya swore that Ren and Masato would regret how they were so nervy a few minutes ago while Syo…

Tokiya could guess that the fashionable boy was imagining the horror of being a test subject. Natsuki looked startled but Tokiya was positive that he did not care much. He himself was already dangerous anyway so Tokiya just hoped the best for Syo. What a luck to live with two dangerous roommates who always saw him as the guinea pig!

Meanwhile, for Tokiya and Otoya, they were greeted by the jovial Reiji from his room side.

Speaking about Kotobuki Reiji, he was the senior that everybody wanted to have. He looked the friendliest so the only atrocious thing that could happen to the partners other than their belongings were pushed to the corner was…

The bunk bed. They would sleep on a bunk bed.

“My  _tatami_ is gone!” They heard Masato shriek from his room.

“Shut up! What’s your problem!?” Syo’s fury followed.

“You don’t seem to know how to respect your seniors,” Ai’s girly but daunting voice filled the air.

Tokiya recoiled while Otoya swallowed his saliva at Syo’s creepy scream afterward. The roommates looked at each other before mentally agreeing that they were in no position to complain.

They knew that Reiji was the best senior ever.

* * *

****At**** that night, STARISH spent their time in their practice room, bashing their seniors.

“I cannot sleep on the top bunk so maybe, just maybe… I will secretly sleep on Ran-chan’s bed and get up early before he kicks me,” Ren said. That was the most determined-looking face that everyone had ever seen from the usually laid-back scion.

“He threw my  _tatami_ away,” Masato said as he lowered his gaze in sorrow. The others could only give him a series of sympathetic looks since they knew just how precious the  _tatami_ was for the pianist.

 _Apparently, that’s what you got when you tried to defy your senior,_  Tokiya mentally commented.  _But, that can’t be helped, though. Hijirikawa-san and Ren just wanted to back STARISH._

“Ai-chan is cute! His room side is all white and he doesn’t mind me hugging him,” Natsuki exclaimed while balling his hands into fists.

“Which part of that person is cute!? Wait, I don’t think he’s even a person! He’s like a robot! He expected us to wake up at 5 o’clock, 5.02, get changed, 5.07, wash face and on top of that, we have to sleep at 9 p.m. That’s ridiculous!” Syo whined. He also balled his small hand into a fist but unlike Natsuki, that was a sign that he would throw a flare-up.

“But, actually, Syo-chan is angry because Ai-chan thought that he is only 100 cm,” Natsuki clarified.

“Shut up, Natsuki!”

After that, when the four pairs of eyes settled on the certain redhead and blue head, the two roommates looked at each other.

So far, they certainly did not have any grievance except…

“Well, I think Otoya has a brother that will baby him. He won’t cling to me anymore,” Tokiya concluded.

“Ehhhh? Do you want to say that I am a nuisance, then?” Otoya demanded before pouting.

“Pretty much.”

“That’s mean, Tokiya!”

Before Tokiya knew it, their conversation suddenly revolved around Haruka and him.

“Do you like Nanami?” Otoya asked as the starter for the more serious conversation.

“Huh? Where did that come from? Wait, why are you guys staring at me like that? Hijirikawa-san, you too?” Tokiya’s eyes sized up as the other blue head who was normally mature also had his face close to the vocalist.

“Yes because I can’t help it. I am as curious as them,” Masato reasoned out. Even his voice could match Ai’s for the monotone but his eyes flashed a strange persistence, like a samurai in the midst of vendetta.

“Right from the start, Haru-chan cared a lot about you since you are HAYATO and everything,” Natsuki exclaimed, brightly.

“So?”

“Since Lady had helped you to find hope and what not, we are just curious about either you like her or…”

“I don’t see why I have to tell you guys,” Tokiya cut Ren’s words coldly. Some of them flinched at his tone but for the sake of his privacy, he had no choices. Sure, he was closer to them than before but it did not suggest that he was ready to share his deep feeling to Haruka with everyone. “Or did you guys want to know because you guys love her? Go ahead. Don’t count me in for your competition. Remember, love is forbidden among us. We’ll be expelled right away if the president finds it.”

Tokiya smirked as he could see some of them recoiled at the thought. Ren and Masato tried so hard to remain composed but their hidden fear was still perceptible.

Why did everybody really want to know what he felt about Haruka? Was it that important for them? Tokiya did not see how it affected them. If they liked Haruka, go ahead! They could make a move…

_No, they can’t. Yes, they literally can but… It will affect me greatly because…_

_I love_   _Nanami-san_.

If truth be told, there was no way he would not fall in love with her. When almost everybody gave up talking to him and comparing him and HAYATO, Haruka was the person that he needed the most. The girl gave him a hope. The girl made him realized that he could not give up after coming this far to Saotome Academy in order to pursue his dream.

This morning, no words could perfectly describe how happy he was to see Haruka. He missed her so much. She looked so adorable with the pink dress and he was left mesmerized by her presence. Yet, as awkward as he was, he just could not say it right on her face.

When he was truly stunned by her for being physically present in front of him, Tokiya had a lot of things to ask her but he just did not know where he should start.

Her grandmother? Her new songs? What else? What else?

That was when he realized that compared to his friends, he knew nothing about Haruka. Their conversation was solely about their works.

But, what made him almost jump down his friends’ throats before fleeing to his room…

“Ahhh, if you are HAYATO, it’ll be easier to know your feeling,” Ren said, ignoring Otoya’s nervous look. Among them, the redhead was the only one who was aware that HAYATO was definitely a taboo for the vocalist. He was chewed out for wearing HAYATO costume before so he had learnt a great lesson.

“I bet if we start working tomorrow and they find out that HAYATO’s true personality is not friendly at all, they will be utterly disappointed,” Syo said.

So much for him to live in this world who only favored someone sweet and funny like HAYATO. He did not expect these people to understand his personality but at least, they should keep their opinion to themselves when he clearly did not ask for it.

He had to be serious. He was comfortable being strict because that was how he achieved success in his career a long time ago. Before he debuted as HAYATO, when those trainees slacked off during their training, he did not let his time wasted in one second. He worked so hard to overcome his tone-deaf condition and he also learned to play a lot of musical instruments. He could not change this serious attitude that easy if it brought more benefits to him.

“You had a lot of works as HAYATO, right?” Ai’s quizzical voice crossed his mind.

_Yes, he had but from now on, I will prove to everyone that Ichinose Tokiya is far more successful than HAYATO._

* * *

****The**** thought that STARISH would attend interviews and CFs starting from this morning just overwhelmed him. Tokiya woke up way too early and he already stood in front of the mirror, grabbing his all sorts of skincare products and toothpaste. Minutes passed with him, brushing and cleaning his teeth. Later, he rubbed and massaged his flawless face with the product before splashing some water on it.

Yet, unlike the past morning in Saotome Academy where it was normal for him to walk alone in the bathroom (since Otoya would wake up way later than him), he felt like…

Somebody was staring at him.

_What’s with this feeling? Why am I feeling weird? Why do I feel that somebody is observing me?_

He could feel a shadow just crossed his back. It was fast but it was not enough to deceive his eyes.

He knew there was something, right behind him.

With a small towel in his hand since he was about to dry his face, he turned to look around the wide bathroom but there was only him, standing in uncertainty.

“What’s that?” He mumbled. The chill still played around in his body but he slowly walked to his room, finding Otoya and Reiji who were asleep.

_I know Otoya doesn’t sleepwalk but Kotobuki-san…_

“Tokki, Otoyan, good luck for your first project today. Your  _senpai_  is cheering on youuuu. Fighting!”

 _But apparently, Kotobuki-san talked in his sleep,_  Tokiya thought as he saw Reiji put his fist up with his eyes closed.

Decided to shrug it off since he was annoyed with Reiji’s stubbornness to call him Tokki, he went back to shower. Allowing the warm droplets showered his body, he lost in his thought before…

“Hey, Tokiya…”

Tokiya’s eyes snapped open while his hand quickly reached to turn off the shower.

_Somebody… Somebody is calling me, right?_

He was not a scaredy-cat like Otoya. He could wander around in a dark place alone since wild and ridiculous imagination would bring him to nowhere but in this current situation, there was impossible for him to not feel a sheer fear.

He was positive that he was not popular enough among his friends to be pulled a prank this early in the morning. They knew how much he hated those ‘fun’ and childish things so…

_If it’s not someone, it must be something that called me. The shadow was ‘something’, not ‘someone’._

He stood still with his hands remained on his sides. He did not turn on the shower since he gave a chance for the voice to reach him again if ‘it’ really wanted to talk to him. Blue eyes gazed at everywhere that they could see before…

“Tokiya…” This time, the owner of the soft voice came in synch with knocks on the door. Maybe it thought it was funny but for Tokiya, his heart almost lost its ability to pump the blood. He wanted to continue showering but until this mystery solved, he could not stay still.

_That didn’t sound like Otoya or Kotobuki-san. Then, who…_

For sure, he had heard the voice somewhere before…

“Hey, Tokiya!” The high-pitched voice started to whine like a child and the same goes for the knocks. It sounded so desperate and for the nth time, Tokiya was frustrated with a heavy sleeper like Otoya (with Reiji as well given how he was not affected by these aggravating knocks, he must be a heavy sleeper as well). If they were easily awake because of this noise, they could save him.

“Are you really not going to open this door, Tokiya?”

Tokiya stepped back, assuming that the person, alien or creature would barge in and attack him.

“Who’s that?” He asked. He reached his bathrobe before wrapping it around his body.

“Me,” the voice answered before giggling. “It’s me.”

“Who!?” Tokiya demanded as he could not stand this pressure any longer.

“Open the door and you will know.”

He knew a normal person would not simply open the door just because ‘something’ told him to do so but he could not help it. He did not want to be trapped in the bathroom forever so he slammed the door open.

Little did he know that after seeing who was that ‘me’, he wished that he would stay in the bathroom and desperately hoped that this was a nightmare because…

To Tokiya, the sight of ‘me’ was more terrifying than any other ghost that ever existed on this planet. For the first time ever, he was scared of someone or something that Otoya was not.

His eyes stared at the tall frame which was the same height as him in horror. He would rather if this ‘me’ did not have a face because the way he grinned just annoyed Tokiya and deserved a punch.

Tokiya observed the frame up and down until his eyes could convince him that this was not a nightmare.

The smiling eyes, the spiky hair with midnight blue color which matched his and the outfit…

That  _frilly_  outfit!

“Waaaaa, this is how I will look like if I am cooler, huh? Hmm, not bad. I look more handsome, I guess?” The ‘me’ said.

Tokiya still had a shocked look on his face. His fringe still had droplets from the shower but he could not care less. He just could not bring himself to do anything until this creature opposite him told him the reason for his existence because…

This guy was not supposed to exist!

“Hey, don’t be so surprised, Tokiya!” The mysterious guy said while patting Tokiya’s stiff shoulder. “It’s just me. Don’t you get excited to see the real me?”

 _No! I… I am not excited at all! And… And he_ …  _He patted my shoulder. He… he touched me so…_

_He’s… real?_

“Why do you look so pale, Tokiya? Are you supposed to be happy to see me in real life? And why are you touching your shoulder? Are you that ecstatic to be touched by me?” when the guy’s face was dangerously close to his, he could feel a perilous wave of sound energy, threatening to escape from his throat.

 _No, don’t… Don’t shout, Tokiya. Don’t shout. It’s only five o’clock. You’ll wake the others up,_ he coaxed himself frantically while pounding on his chest.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong with your mouth? Why is it getting bigger? Are you going to shout?”

_I think. I am sorry but I can’t help it…_

“Hey, Tokiya. Relax. I am not a ghost…”

1…2…3…

“Waaaaaaaaa!!!!”

“Hey, don’t shout!” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Idiotic Tokiya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and bookmark, guys!

**A**  pair of red eyes drifted to every direction they could find. At the very back of the car but sitting in the center, Syo was leaning lazily against the seat. A pair of black earphones attached to his ears while his fedora closed half of his face. Next to him was Masato, also in his own world. Apparently, the scion decided that the sight of the dark cloud of Tokyo was much better than seeing a certain person.

Next to Otoya aka the owner of the red eyes was Ren. The long-haired man placed his hands against the seat to support his head. His cyan eyes signaled something to the redhead since a ‘disturbing’ circumstance was going off, just next to Otoya.

Conversely, Natsuki thought that it was better for him to chirp happily with ‘Tokiya’ about how pretty those random birds in the sky were. For a second, everybody was envious of the big guy’s ability to stay sanguine in this kind of situation.

In  _this_ absurd situation.

“Woahhh, those birds again, Natsuki!” The ‘Tokiya’ or HAYATO exclaimed with his strong  _Kansai_ accent while pointing at the said birds like a pair of five-year-olds children. “Maybe they also wanted to celebrate your first day of working as an idol. Just look at the sky! It’s beautiful!”

“I know, right? Waaahh, I never thought that HAYATO-kun is so chummy like this! I wish I can see this side of Tokiya-kun more,” the big guy replied with the similar tone. It was surprising when no matter how ecstatic he was, Natsuki was still aware that he was in a car so there was no use to hold his fist up in the air. “But, you’re right, HAYATO-kun. The sky is so beautiful!”

‘Are you guys kidding me? The sky is dark,’ was what Masato wanted to say right on the guys’ faces enough from the way he scowled. He swore that the real Tokiya most probably had enough charm that could make even the dark sky mourned for him.

The sky was mourning since HAYATO would do his first job as the T of STARISH instead of Tokiya himself.

This morning, STARISH was scheduled to shoot CFs, followed by a couple of interviews. Yet, no matter how ecstatic they felt, they just could not express their excitement as it should be. They could not be so contented because they knew that Tokiya clearly did not share the same feeling.

Despite the tragedy in the bathroom, it did not stop a certain guy from smiling ear to ear. His frilly uniform was replaced with Tokiya’s light blue shirt, black jacket, and black jeans, thanks to Otoya’s guts to search for them in Tokiya’s closet. His hair was adjusted to Tokiya-esque hairstyle, thanks to the redhead’s persistence so that they could totally hide the real identity of the blue head.

“HAYA… HAYATO-s…”

“Just call me HAYATO, Otoya,” despite the bright smile that was flashed directly at him, Otoya recoiled like he just saw a phantom. He moved closer to Ren, hugging the scion’s muscular arm in order to seek for protection. “If you can call someone menacing like Tokiya as ‘Tokiya’, then I guess you don’t have a problem to address me casually, right?”

“I think you’re the one who is menacing here,” Syo who surprisingly heard everything despite the loud song from his iPod suddenly remarked. He lifted his fedora back onto his head before pulling off his earphones. “Seriously, where the hell are you from? At least, despite how menacing Tokiya is, we know he really exists in this world. Unlike  _you_.”

“I don’t know,” HAYATO shrugged, nonchalantly. “Before I knew it, I was already in the bathroom and of course, I would look for Tokiya first but… just look at him! He’s so dramatic! I couldn’t explain anything and he…”

“No, he’s not dramatic. In fact, that’s a normal reaction from a real human being once they found out that a creature like you is real,” Syo cut him short. He ignored Ren’s pats on his arm which attempting to calm him down.

“Ohhh, Syo- _chan_! That’s so meannnnn! But you’re kind of cute so let me baby you for a moment!” HAYATO who was entertained with the fact that Syo tried so hard to act tough suddenly stretched out his hands before pinching Syo’s soft cheeks.

“Waaaaaaa, that’s hurtttt! Get your hands off me, you idiottt!” The car was starting to shake hysterically as Syo was thrashing around to kick HAYATO back to his seat. At the moment, everyone was convinced that if this lasted any longer, they would get scolded by their manager who silently drove the car.

“No wonder Natsuki loves to hug you a lot! You’re so adorable like a baby! I love how you fail to act tough, Syo-chan!” HAYATO yelled, enjoying himself to victimize Syo’s poor cheeks.

“Let me go, you jerk! Somebody help me!! Help me!”

Unfortunately, the bunch of ‘somebody’ just laughed together including Masato. Natsuki even had his eyes glistened with tears since this was the first time somebody could relate to him and shared his ‘Syo is Cute’ philosophy.

Except for Otoya.

Normally, the redhead was easily entertained by simple jokes. It did not take much effort to make him guffawed but at the moment, the best response he could show was chuckling awkwardly. His mind was swirling busily with the thought of the sick Tokiya in their room.

On the spur of the moment, the events which led HAYATO to sit in the same car and went to the same studio with them churned out in his mind.

* * *

 

**For**  the first time ever since he had roomed with Tokiya, the guitarist was doled out with the strident sound of his roommate. The redhead was so used with the blue head’s random singing especially after he finished with his lyric writing or when he simply just wanted to test his vocal range. Plus, Tokiya’s voice was so pleasant to hear frequently so what harm could it cause?

But, in that morning, the usually engaging voice turned more horrified that it managed to send a heavy sleeper like Otoya jumped from his bed. The scream was way too much that it kicked his guts away to rescue his roommate. What would make the stoic like Tokiya to produce such a wretched scream? The redhead wanted to know but at the same time, he refused to know!

At last, Otoya dragged his heavy legs to Reiji who still slept soundly on his bed.

Asking Reiji for a help was as easy as falling off a log. Given Reiji already engrossed himself as a dependable senior for his cute juniors, the leader of QUARTET NIGHT wasted no times to save his blue-haired junior.

“Tokki, wait for me! Your _senpai_  is… Huh!?”

Both Reiji and Otoya who clutched the back of his senior’s orange shirt were left surprised as soon as the actual sight of the bathroom was registered in their minds.

“Oh, you must be Ittoki Otoya, Tokiya’s roommate! Nice to meet you!” a certain blue head who was neither Tokiya nor Masato exclaimed brightly. Disregarding the duo’s thunderstruck reaction, he shook Otoya’s hand. “I still remembered on the first day in Saotome Academy, you excitedly put on my costume. Even Tokiya jumped down your throat afterward, I must say that I felt so honored. My costume made someone excited to wear it when Tokiya himself felt disgusted at it.”

“Huh? Hm… Well… Tokiya, what happened!?” Otoya was about to blush before he noticed the sight of piteous Tokiya, shaking frenziedly on the floor like he just found the only ghost that managed to scare him. The guitarist quickly hugged Tokiya from his back, ignoring the wet blue hair that poked his face.

“And you must be Kotobuki Reiji-san, Tokiya’s senior,” HAYATO reached Reiji’s hand, shaking it chummily. “Nice to meet you! I am HAYATO. Tokiya is so lucky to have you as his senior. You’re so kind, unlike your other teammates. Please be patient with Tokiya. He might look mean and snap easily but when it comes to works, I guarantee you… he’ll make your life easier. Even Himura-san and his ex-president also said the same thing.”

“He… he talked… He talked too much,” Tokiya, on the other hand, looked like he had one foot in the grave. “Otoya, tell him… Tell him to get lost.”

“HAYATO-san, Tokiya asked you to get lost,” Otoya said innocently. This situation was so absurd but he was more concerned about Tokiya’s health welfare. “Rei-chan, please do something.”

“Huh? Well…” The brown-haired senior startled as he was dragged to the reality by Otoya’s beseeching voice. He was flattered at HAYATO’s praise but at the same time, he did not know how to interrogate this ‘twin’ of Tokiya.

Like… What was he supposed to ask in the first place? ‘How did you separate yourself from Tokiya?’

Logically speaking, it was not logical by any means!

“Whattt? That’s mean, Tokiyaaaa!!” HAYATO screeched, making all three of them winced at the note that he accomplished. “It’s been a long time since I can see this world without being trapped in your body and you already ordered me to get lost? No, I want to stay here longer!”

“He… He wanted… He wanted to stay here longer, Otoya,” that was the time when Tokiya felt his soul really escaped from his body. Otoya’s anxious voice which calling his name was the last thing his ears could capture before everything turned pitch-black.

* * *

 

**Because**  of the dramatic and ‘deplorable’ encounter with HAYATO, Tokiya literally lost his ability to do everything by himself. His body temperature was very high all sudden and they had to call a doctor to examine the blue head.

STARISH’s reaction? It was various since they were not a bunch of robots after all. Like Otoya, Syo flinched and avoided HAYATO like a contagious disease. Masato recoiled as well but he was much calmer while Natsuki was so friendly that he got close to the blue head right away. The only one who seemed to not be affected at all was Ren and his reason was;

“I kind of saw this coming, seeing how much Icchi hated HAYATO. Plus, it’s Shining Saotome’s territory, right? Anything can happen.”

When Masato’s ‘so, what now?’ question lingered in the air, Shining Saotome suddenly appeared, rotating in the air for a few seconds before landing on the center of the room.

“Since Mr. Ichinose is sickkkk, we will have Mr. HAYATO to replace him after he recoverssss.”

That was it. Without describing the motive of his order, the president disappeared, jumping all his way to outside. They knew more than everyone that the legendary singer’s orders were mandatory and they were in no position to disobey him.

* * *

 

**Now,**  other STARISH members could not help but be doubtful about the president’s order. They were walking their way to their dressing room but HAYATO still maintained as a very idiotic Tokiya with a clown-esque grin.

“I think you better start practicing to be Ichinose now, HAYATO. At least, please do something with your face,” Masato commented, attempting to draw HAYATO’s attention. The guy was so busy scanning the studio like a student in the middle of a field trip, making his beam noticeable.

“Hijirikawa is right. If you maintain the foolish smile, Tokiya will get totally pissed off and whack you once he finds out,” Syo reasoned out, making sure his pace was faster in order to match others since he was short.

“Huh? What’s wrong with my smile? This is Tokiya’s face after all so logically speaking, this smile is his too,” HAYATO pointed at his beam. It was so disturbing since it reminded them that Tokiya never showed such a bubbly expression unless he hit his head.

“Yes but it’s not Tokiya-esque, HAYA,” Ren interrupted before his long finger settled on his own throat. Except for Natsuki, the others recoiled to hear the instant nickname that he gave to HAYATO. “Your voice, especially.”

“Oh, man… Do you mean I have to talk like THAT?” HAYATO exclaimed in disbelief. It amazed them how he could talk while constantly had his head turned in their direction without straining his neck. “With such a cold voice? That’s hard!”

“We believe yours is way harder,” Masato and Syo bashed with the similarly annoyed expression.

“I personally think the way Tokiya-kun talks is cold but his singing voice is really amazing! I can listen to him all day,” Natsuki commented like a fanboy. When he balled his fists animatedly, he almost smacked those staffs who passed him with his elbow due to his tall frame.

“But sometimes, it’s too flat. I wonder if he’s really interested in talking with us,” Ren suggested. Since he led their way, he had to bend his torso a bit backward to allow his voice reached their hearings.

“Of course, he is. Maybe that’s just the way he talks,” Otoya said.

No one ever noticed that HAYATO was silently digesting each of their comment.

“Yes, Otoya’s right. His natural speaking voice is like that,” HAYATO acknowledged. “Back then, before he debuted as me, he was mocked and bullied a lot for acting mature all the time. You guys know how Tokiya was, right? His demeanor looked like he underestimated everyone since he was a perfectionist who was good at everything. They also teased him for sounding flat and trying to act macho and what not. I wondered what he did wrong, though. How come they bullied him just because he has a voice like that? You know what? Since then, Tokiya found it hard to make friends…”

His story stopped abruptly as the blue eyes looked around. Sympathetic stares flashed from different directions and that was when HAYATO realized that he just told something that Tokiya would not feel comfortable to share.

“Well, nevertheless, like Ren had said, I had to make my voice like Tokiya’s,” he cleared his throat, trying his best to ignore other’s gazes.

“I wonder if Tokiya’s doing alright,” Otoya mumbled while his scarlet eyes gazed particularly at nowhere. “Maybe I should call Rei-chan…”

“Don’t worry. He still passed out but he’ll be fine. This is not the first time you see him get sick, right?” HAYATO supplied.

“Yeah,” Otoya replied, weakly.

“But how do you know he still fainted? It’s not like you can see him,” Syo pointed out. His arms were crossed over his chest, conveying his suspicion. The others also stopped walking as they sought for the same answer.

“Just because,” HAYATO carefully avoided his eyes, settled on a door which had ‘STARISH’ on it.

Unbeknown to them, a smirk appeared across his lips.

* * *

 

**The** atmosphere in the dressing room was fulfilled with a strange tension. Everybody already wore their clothes according to their assigned colors but all attention was paid on HAYATO in order to turn him into the presentable Tokiya.

“Ohhh, this is so cool,” HAYATO remarked, admiring his purple outfit. “That Tokiya is really something, though. He has cool clothes, cool hairstyle, and a cool voice. To be honest, I am proud that I had shared the same body with someone like him.”

The others just chuckled. As much as the idea of  _the_  HAYATO got separated from Tokiya’s body was surreal, this situation was not bad at all. So far, this HAYATO did not mean any harm.

So far…

“Okay, we’re done with the outfit. So, let’s fix your face first. Sure, it’s handsome but we still need some makeover,” Ren clasped his hands together before touching HAYATO’s slightly smaller shoulders. “Your eyes… Icchi’s don’t look as bright as yours. His were cool and the same goes with his smile. In your case, you should smile a bit. Just relax and do not exaggerate.”

“But I don’t exaggerate. This is just my natural smile. You see?” HAYATO drew a curved line on his lips, emphasizing the shape of his smile.

“His smile is too wide but he’s still cute,” Natsuki exclaimed.

“And your voice… Try to make your voice like Icchi’s,” Ren encouraged while gesturing with his hand.

“Well, okay then,” HAYATO straightened his posture before clearing his throat. “Good morning, everyone. I am Ichinose Tokiya from STARISH.”

“Woahhh,” Otoya, Syo, and Natsuki could not conceal their amazement while Ren and Masato pursed their lips to show their acknowledgment.

“What are you guys so surprised at? I came from Tokiya after all. Of course, I can imitate his voice perfectly,” HAYATO commented, in unison with his chuckles.

‘But actually, you make us see you guys as the twins who never get along’ was what everybody wanted to answer.

“Yeah, you’re right. Hahahhaa,” Otoya scratched his head and finally, he found this situation as funny. He could not help it since he always admired Tokiya’s voice.

“Well, I think we don’t have that much problem with your voice,” Ren concluded before scanning HAYATO at a glance. “Speaking about your walking style and what not, if you think it’s so hard to be Icchi in just 15 minutes, you can learn a bit from Hijirikawa. Hijirikawa, teach him.”

“What? Me?” Masato’s baritone voice thickened with irritation as his roommate suddenly shifted the responsibility to him.

“Yeahh, Ren! You’re right. Tokiya and Hijirikawa-san are very similar,” HAYATO jumped to Masato’s side. He was this close to hear the pianist’s dramatic scream due to shock. “But I am just going to call you Masato and get friendly with you. I believe your personality is way much better than Tokiya.”

“Thanks but what should I teach him… Again?” Masato asked around. He did not forget to throw a fiery glare at Ren.

* * *

 

**Soon,**  Masato regretted to agree with Ren’s crazy idea.

The blue-haired scion sighed in fury. After they were done with their make-up and walked their way to the studio, a certain idiotic blue head kept following his pace back and forth. The guy even imitated the way the scion suddenly sneezed after his nose was poked with Ren’s red rose.

“Please stop it, HAYATO,” Masato warned as he snatched the innocent red rose from Ren before throwing it into a trash can which the scion could spot right away. “You’re disturbing me and I don’t like it.”

“But your walking style is very elegant, Masato. I think I should learn a lot from you,” HAYATO said while stroking Ren’s back. Even Ren looked calm, HAYATO knew that he was upset after seeing his red rose’s tragic ending.

“Cut it out already, won’t you?” Masato mumbled flatly but everyone could tell that he was flattered by HAYATO’s compliment.

Soon after they showed themselves in the studio, they were greeted by the director of their first CF, Yashamaru. All staffs seemed busy with their respective tasks, stopping their pace for a while just to greet them before moving around again.

“Congratulations for the awesome debut, STARISH,” Yashamaru, the 40 years old director said. He could not hide his excitement to collaborate with the promising idol group from Shining Agency. His black eyes observed each of the handsome faces until they settled on someone who had a very wide grin.

“Wow, you look so excited today, Ichinose-san. Can’t wait to get rid of the HAYATO image, I guess?”

“No, I smile like this because I miss being HAYATO. I might debut as Ichinose Tokiya but I still want to maintain my HAYATO image.”

“Oh, really?” Yashamaru exclaimed, eyeing other STARISH members.

Syo and Masato did not even bother to hide their gasp.

Ren let out chuckles.

_You better be prepared to see the sunrise after this, Icchi,_  he thought.

Natsuki just giggled while Otoya had this ‘what the heck?’ face. They knew Yashamaru also as perplexed as them.

Yet, one thing for sure, everyone was sure that Tokiya would surely get mad and pass out again.

* * *

 

**“Waaaahh!”**  Tokiya shot himself upward as he was haunted by a very disturbing nightmare, followed by a strange squeak right beside his bed. He turned, slightly perplexed to see Haruka, holding a small white towel.

“Ichinose-san, you’re awake,” the composer remarked, softly. Her cheeks were dusted with pink color that it made Tokiya’s heart thumped fast right away.

“Na…Nanami-san, what are you doing here?” The shock and happiness battled against each other in his mind. Blue eyes sized up as he looked around the room. Otoya and Reiji were not there and speaking of Reiji…

Tokiya had slept on his senior’s bed. Most probably because it was impossible to make him sleep on his bed which was on the top bunk.

“I… Well,” the composer placed the white towel on her lap. It was more embarrassing to use it to wipe Tokiya’s sweaty face when the guy was already awake. “Jinguuji-san had called and asked me to keep checking on you from time to time. He said you are sick.”

“Oh…”

_That’s so kind of you, Ren. Very kind,_  the blue head mentally commented.

“I guess, it’s still burning,” Tokiya was startled with the touch from Haruka’s delicate hand, placed on his sweaty forehead. “Did you have a nightmare, Ichinose-san? You talked in your sleep and you were all anxious.”

_Oh, my… So embarrassing!_

“Well…” while coaxing himself to keep his composure, Tokiya cleared his dry throat. “Actually, I think I just saw that shallow dullard this morning before I passed out. I don’t remember what happened…”

“Do you mean HAYATO-sama?” Haruka blinked innocently. Who else, though?

“Ye… yeah…”

_Wow, she still called the dullard with ‘sama’. Does she still admire him?_

“Are you sure you saw him this morning? Maybe you just got a nightmare,” Haruka suggested. All she put was a white plain dress but she still grabbed Tokiya’s attention, especially when she sat gracefully beside the bed.

“I am not really sure but… Did other guys say anything?”

“Nope.”

“Then, maybe I did have a nightmare. Come to think of it, how come HAYATO suddenly appeared right in front of my eyes and…”

“Oh, are you awake already, Tokiya? Good evening!” A terrifyingly high voice interrupted the conversation and as soon as Tokiya saw what Haruka saw, he wished he could run away and live in an isolated island because…

The  _shallow dullard_  was here, ostensibly. His hairstyle was turned into his significantly spiky one, proving to Tokiya that his eyes did not deceive him.

“Good evening, Tokiya! Good evening!” When he got no responses from the shocked Tokiya, the dullard trapped the feeble body into his arms before patting his back several times.

“Tokiya, are you alright? How’s the fever?” Otoya took a seat beside Tokiya, checking his temperature by placing a hand on the vocalist’s forehead.

“Oi, say something! Don’t scare us!” Syo, who tended to be aggressive when he was caring, shook Tokiya’s shoulders but the blue head’s focus was on HAYATO.

That was when everyone realized that HAYATO and Haruka were staring at each other after the guy pulled away from Tokiya.

HAYATO claimed that his natural smile was the very wide one but now, he curved in a very gentle smile as his eyes never left Haruka’s adorable face. It was obvious why the composer had her cheeks dusted with dark pink color.

Way darker than when she had to nurse the sick Tokiya.

“You are Nanami Haruka, right?” HAYATO asked. He lowered his head, matching Haruka’s eye level.

“Ye… yeah,” the composer’s mind was swamped by so many questions but she felt like her mouth was too frozen to let the questions escape. “HAYA… HAYATO-sama?”

“Yes, I am. This is your HAYATO-sama _,_ Haruka-chan.”

It was a simple and innocent greeting that they could expect from an idol to his fan but everybody had a very bad feeling about this circumstance.

Would there be another one person who would like Haruka? To be honest, they all were so sick of this! Six of them were compact enough and they did not need more rivals in order to win Haruka’s heart. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think about this chapter? Feel free to let me know by dropping a comment! Have a good day, guys ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More chaos...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comment ^^
> 
> I am supposed to continue with my ‘Beautiful Affection’ rewrite but my plot bunny for this story just popped out here and there in my head so I think, I should do something about this. My head was hurt with the rewrite of TokiMasa conflict in Beautiful Affection so I might as well do some light exercise with this light story. ^^

****Back****  to HAYATO and Haruka’s first meeting…

A few minutes passed but nobody was sane or conscious enough to break the potentially romantic atmosphere between Haruka and her idol.

No, it was supposed to be her ex-idol. The composer herself said that STARISH had become her current idol.

“How… HAYATO-sama… How is this even possible…” Haruka shifted glances between HAYATO and his clone, Tokiya.

_They are supposed to be the same person, right?_

“I know, right? How is this even possible? I am still searching for the reason of my existence but now…” HAYATO suddenly lifted Haruka’s chin up, much to the others’ revulsion. His affectionate gesture looked more irritating than Ren’s ‘Little Lamb’ remark. “I guess I had found it when I saw you.”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Tokiya could feel five lightning with different colors were shot at him.

_Tokiya, you pentagon!_

_You acted like you don’t care about Nanami but in fact, you also wanted to flirt with her!_

_Why don’t you just say that you deliberately summoned this guy because you wanted Nanami to be your fan again!?_

_Such a sly pentagon._

_You are hypocritical! I don’t want to have friends like you, you pentagon!_

“W…What?” Tokiya slid backward, feeling the most insulted when the ‘pentagon’ word was repeated even he had no idea where did it come from. His situation was like a hopeless deer, ready to get butchered by the starving crocodiles.

Silently watching STARISH’s comical reaction, HAYATO just chuckled. He folded his arms, staring victoriously at Haruka’s harem.

“Just relax, guys. It’s too early to feel intimidated. This is only the beginning.”

“What do you mean, HAYATO-sama?” Haruka asked. She could not understand why all of them glared at Tokiya when he was still sick and only sat quietly on his bed. They should pity him instead.

“Nothing, Haruka-chan!” HAYATO exclaimed. He loved teasing STARISH but he never wanted to provoke their sincere feeling to Haruka.

That was cheap of him to do such a thing.

“But you better be careful, Haruka-chan. You might attract other guys as well,” leaving Haruka with her quizzical expression, HAYATO diverted his attention towards other six guys who seemed to treat his words like a bomb. “You guys also have to be careful since QUARTET NIGHT is also here.”

“What… What’s wrong with QUARTET NIGHT?” Syo demanded.

“They will also potentially be the love interests in this story so you guys can stop feeling intimidated with Tokiya alone. Soon, you guys will know why they also will take interest in her. Trust me, this girl will get more and more boys to swoon over her as long as she exists. Normally, if the story is about a boy band, the main characters will have a senior group, the rival group from a rival company and a junior group, right? So good luck with the competition, I guess.”

_HAYA is certainly observant –Ren-_

_What the heck did this idiot talk about? We are not in some kind of otome game for crying out loud! –Syo-_

_Or is this a reverse harem anime? No, I don’t want to end up like those guys in the anime. I want to be Haru-chan’s boyfriend for real! –Natsuki-_

They could feel the goosebumps, just from the thought of fighting for Haruka’s love.

Especially with their seniors.

Competing with Ai? That guy was suspiciously robotic and they did not want Haruka had robotic children as well!

Kurosaki Ranmaru was too foul-mouthed. They did not want Haruka to cry because of his swearing.

Kotobuki Reiji? Oh, my…

The guy had no flaws so far so he would be a tough competition for six of them.

They all were resolute to confront their seniors about this matter. The fact that Haruka’s harem would be spread to another agency also taunted them.

“What are you talking about, HAYATO-sama?” Despite the warning, Haruka was still oblivious of everything under her nose. Her question obtained nothing but a chummy smile from the said guy.

Either it was because she was simply naïve when it comes to love relationship due to her background or those guys always said something ambiguous like ‘you’re like a Muse’, ‘you’re like a princess from a magical world’, ‘don’t bump into anyone but me’ and what not, you decide.

“But, it’s okay, guys. I think for the time being, she won’t entertain any of them. She will always put on this face every time someone flirts with her,” HAYATO justified while pointing at Haruka’s unaware face.

Eventually, HAYATO managed to calm everyone down. The different volume of sigh of relief filled the air.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” some of them mumbled. All of them were recalling the embarrassing memories in which they tried to confess or be poetic with Haruka but ended up failing miserably.

“What… What just happened?” Haruka looked around but everyone was busy abusing themselves with their own flashback.

“Haruka-chan,” HAYATO grinned while resting his hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about them. They are just lost.”

_But, I am also lost, HAYATO-sama!_

* * *

****The****  chaos did not stop there.

“Tokiya, please… Have some sympathy, will you?” A certain redhead pleaded for somebody. He had to because currently, his roommate looked like a tyrant who refused to share his livestock with his people.

“No!” The deep voice grew louder and it seriously scared the daylight out of Otoya. The vocalist hugged his closet protectively as if HAYATO would jump into it and steal his clothes.

The redhead could understand why Tokiya looked like he would slaughter HAYATO into 100 pieces of meats. Their confrontation with Shining Saotome from 20 minutes ago just met the most disturbing agreement that Tokiya had ever encountered in his life. When Saotome proudly said that he was the one who ordered HAYATO to replace him for today’s projects, all he actually did was encouraging Tokiya to end his life.

When the president said the next sets of words…

****_“We have no choice but to hide Mr. HAYATO, Mr. Ichinose. The public already knew him as your persona. Can you imagine what kind of uproar will you cause when people learn that Mr. HAYATO is real? People will start questioning you either he’s your twin brother or just some alien that we cannot find which planet does he come from. The worst thing is since he already has a fan base, his fans will prefer him to you. You guys will be compared all the time. I believe you don’t want that to happen, right, Mr. Ichinoseeee?”_ ** **

Tokiya knew did not have any choice. This was not a good time to be picky when his future was in jeopardy.

But what made Tokiya think that carrying out an arson attack on Saotome’s house was a better idea was…

****_“I want you to be considerate towards Mr. HAYATO, Mr. Ichinose. He is a person now, no longer a persona that you despise so much. He has a body, desire, and own way of thinking. He surely doesn’t want to get trapped in Master Course dorm all the time and we don’t know how long he will stay here. So, give him time and opportunity to get out and get some fresh air as well by pretending to be you and while he does that, you should stay in your dorm quietly.”_ ** **

****_“No! Why should I be considerate towards him!? Besides, it’s his fault for coming here, to begin with. Why am I the one who has to suffer from this nonsense!?”_ ** **

****_“Because he’s also considerate towards you for not appearing in public and blackmailing you. You should be considerate towards each other and there will be no problem, right, Mr. HAYATO?”_ ** **

A devious smirk from Shining Saotome and a mischievous grin from HAYATO were the last things that Tokiya wanted to see at this moment. Just why did Saotome take HAYATO’s side easily? To make it worse, the wicked president just gave an idea for HAYATO to sabotage him.

 ** _“And you, Mr. Ittokiiii,”_  **Saotome pointed at the said redhead who just listened while standing between Tokiya and HAYATO.  _“ **I bet you can be a good friend of Mr. HAYATO. Please treat him welllll.”**_

**_“Okay, president.”_ **

**_“Okay, now go back to your room and make sure Mr. HAYATO is treated well and have basic needsssss.”_ **

* * *

****The**** first basic need… It was so hard for HAYATO to obtain.

“He wore these clothes since this morning. He needs to take a shower and gets more comfortable attire at least, Tokiyaaaa,” the caring Otoya continuously coaxed his stubborn roommate while desperately pointing at HAYATO from head to toe. HAYATO, on the other hand, was much calmer, observing the soap opera, starring the two best friends.

“And what makes you think that he should get it from me when you, Otoya already stole my clothes and gave them to him!? You are such a rude jerk!” Tokiya still had his hands closed the closet.

“Then, where else was I supposed to get them!? Obviously, you’re the only one who can fit his size! Plus, Rei-chan and I are smaller than HAYATO so we cannot lend ours!”

“I don’t care! He can wear those clothes as long as he stays here and that’s the only amount of consideration that I can give to him! Period!”

“Well, if he doesn’t want to help me, then it’s okay. Let’s borrow Masa’s for a while and we can shop together,” HAYATO beamed at Otoya reassuringly.

“And where the hell does the money for your shopping come from?” Tokiya sneered.

“Well, won’t you give me some?” HAYATO said with a very wide grin. It was supposed to fish Tokiya’s sympathy but being Ichinose Tokiya, he hated HAYATO’s smile the most. It looked so idiotic to him.

“No,” Tokiya said, immediately. “You are not even my son so just go outside and be a beggar instead.”

That was… hurt.

* * *

 ** **“Here****  you go,” Masato said, handing a set of clothes to HAYATO.

“Thank you, Masa. You’re so kind. I will wash them real fast and return them to you,” the blue eyes observed Masato’s dark blue jeans, a simple light yellow shirt and a grey sweater which were neatly folded.

“It’s not a big deal. I am the only one who fits your size anyway. No need to make it sound like friends are not supposed to lend things to you,” Masato said, eyeing a specific reaction from HAYATO.

“Hahahaha. I know right? I can be dramatic sometimes,” the blue head admitted in a shy manner.

 _Well, at least back then, my ‘friends’ are not kind like this, Masa,_  he mentally answered.

“Tokiya is just plain mean!” Otoya exclaimed, still could feel the bitterness crawling in his veins after seeing the way Tokiya treated HAYATO. “He doesn’t even let HAYATO use his money!”

“It’s okay, Otoya. Instead, let’s pray that this curse will only last today. Maybe Tokiya is dreaming and currently, we are all in his dream,” HAYATO randomly assumed while chuckling awkwardly. “And the next thing you realize is everything is back to normal.”

“But you don’t seem to be happy about that, HAYA,” Ren said before smirking.

“Well, to be honest, I don’t really mind. I am not real anyway.”

Masato and Ren secretly glanced at each other. Despite always fighting about everything everywhere, the childhood friends would have this kind of habit whenever they had the same guess in their minds.

“To be honest, having you here is not so bad. I don’t mind to help you with the expense. As for tonight, I will pay for your meal and shopping,” Otoya said as he hugged HAYATO’s shoulders. “It’s been fun to have you around even though you just appeared today. You’re so positive and friendly! No wonder you have a lot of fans!” Otoya said chummily.

“Yes, Ikki is right. It still felt strange to see Icchi’s face to beam at me but hey, that’s better than the grumpy Icchi, right?” Ren’s remark was especially interesting to HAYATO.

_Oh… That’s better than the grumpy Tokiya, huh?_

“Yeah, they are right. We are friends now so if you have a problem after this or Ichinose simply doesn’t want to help you, don’t hesitate to ask from us instead,” Masato said.

“Woahhhh,” HAYATO cupped his mouth. The dramatic tears sparkled from his blue eyes.

“You guys are so nice to me even I just mentioned that Haruka-chan will get more admirers from other groups as well. You guys are willing to help me despite I just said that you guys have a dozen of rivals. How touching!”

The room turned eerily quiet.

How on earth they just forgot about the bitter truth just because of their new friendship with HAYATO?

“Get out of here before I throw a dozen of ink bottles at you, HAYATO,” was what Masato said, showing his tyrant-looking face. A samurai could possibly reincarnate from his body given his body was burning with fire.

After frantically apologizing and thanked the scions, HAYATO stormed out of the room, followed by Otoya. The friends ran even faster when they bumped into Natsuki who wore a pink apron and creepily wanted to shove his dangerous soup into their mouths.

Not long after that, the Master Course dorm was shaken by Syo’s scream after being the first and only victim of Natsuki’s mad cooking for tonight.

* * *

 ** **“Hey,****  Hayato.”

“Yes?” The said guy replied. He still engrossed himself with the menu in his hands, struggling to choose his meal for the night.

“Did you always walk around like this?” Otoya said, starting to doubt the effectiveness of ‘not disguising in public place’ idea. The redhead could not focus on the menu nor his grumbling stomach as a lot of girls in the family restaurant were watching them intently. Some of them pushed each other in order to ask the idols to take pictures with them. In the blink of an eye, they already formed a big circle around the idols.

“Yes, a lot. I had suffered from insomnia before so I would walk aimlessly in this place.”

“And what did you do when the fans approached you?” Otoya asked in a rather careful but still panicky tone when a pair of girls finally got a moxie to approach his side.

“I’ll just talk with them, then,” HAYATO suddenly got up, facing those girls who could not help but gasped dramatically. The blue eyes suavely looked around, randomly picking his first lucky fan. “Hi, beauties. Is there anything I can do for you guys? Or, perhaps… you guys are a fan of Ittoki Otoya instead?”

More girls approached the blue head. He lowered his head so that he could hear their requests well since most of them were still shy, making him looked like a daddy with his small daughters.

“Sure. Come on, Otoya!” he suddenly pulled Otoya’s arm before hugging his shoulders. “These girls want to take our pictures!”

A loud squeal echoed as soon as the shocked Otoya joined HAYATO.

“So, who’s going to join us first?” HAYATO pointed questioningly at a pair of best friends who became the first fans who would take pictures with them.

“Me!” A girl with a black ponytail lifted her hand before timidly took her spot between the idols.

“Okay, then…” as random as he was, HAYATO suddenly took two small vases of flowers from the nearby tables before handing one of them to Otoya. “Do you want Otoya and me to kneel and pretend to give flowers to you?”

“Yeah, like that, Tokiya!” The girl’s friend who held a camera exclaimed excitedly. The others squealed out of jealousy and exhilaration.

 _Wow, to imagine Tokiya would do something cheesy like that…_  Otoya mentally commented.

The next one hour was spent entertaining their fans which Otoya did not mind at all. His hungry stomach could wait since he could not help but find his fans were cute.

In the midst of the flowery atmosphere due to the sweet conversation between the idols and their fans, Otoya was distracted by HAYATO’s sudden announcement.

“As an appreciation for your support to STARISH, I will pay for your meal tonight! Just order what you girls want but please make sure that after this, you girls will support my teammates’ works as well, okay?”

In the midst of the loud cheer, Otoya unconsciously swallowed the invisible lump in his throat. He remained the speechless expression on his face until HAYATO headed for him.

“Oh, I am sorry. I don’t mean I’ll make you pay for them,” HAYATO quickly took out two cards from his pocket, gaining him a quizzical look from Otoya. ‘Whose credit cars are those?’ was written over the cute face.

“Tokiya’s,” HAYATO whispered, making the redhead gasped in disbelief.

_Did he take it? When?_

“That’s… That’s… Tokiya’s?” When he only gained a set of nod and wide grin from the blue head, Otoya continued, “but… but, how do you find them? I am positive he hid them.”

“Here,” HAYATO poked his temple proudly. “I am Tokiya after all. No matter how hard he tried to hide them, I will always know it because his memory is mine as well. I even know his password for all his belongings that need one.”

“What!?”

“So, just keep your money for tonight. I will pay for your meal as well, okay? Don’t worry! Your roommate is so rich,” HAYATO patted Otoya’s stiff back before approaching their fans again.

“Hey, girls! Have you guys done with the order? Do you guys need anything else? I tell you what, this is my most favorite restaurant in Japan! You should come here often and support the owner!”

The ruckus in the restaurant slowly turned into a slow-motioned audio before vanishing completely from Otoya’s hearing. He did not know what to feel after he found out another HAYATO’s mischievousness for today.

_For some reason, I think he’ll cause a trouble again._

With that thought, Otoya swallowed his saliva nervously, imagining the worst volcano eruption that would take place in Master Course dorm.

* * *

 ** **Otoya**** was very right about the volcano eruption.

In R.O.T’s (Reiji, Otoya, and Tokiya) room, a certain figure was sitting up on his bed, scrolling the screen of his phone quietly.

The room was so quiet but inside Tokiya, his chest felt like a volcano, taking another few seconds to puke its red and intimidating lava.

All his social media pages were filled with a lot of pictures of HAYATO and Otoya entertained their fans in a restaurant that Tokiya used to go frequently when he was the persona. A lot of fans wrote messages on his wall, saying something like…

****That was very sweet of you, Tokiya! I am a big fan of HAYATO and it made me happy when you decided to be all smiling and happy like HAYATO again! Thank you so much, Tokiya!** **

****You’re definitely the same cheerful idol that I’ve admired ever since! Thank you, Tokiya aka HAYATO! I LOVE YOU!! ><** **

****Thanks for the meal, Tokiya!! You’re so kind-hearted! As an idol, you know how to reward your fans! Please stay awesome and handsome! I love you, Tokiya! *insert a lot of big hearts emoticons** **

****Your smile is very precious, Tokiya! We love you! Indeed, thanks for the meal! I bet the restaurant will become a must-visited restaurant in Japan after this! You’ve helped the owner becomes famous as well!** **

Etcetera.

_Wait, he paid for the meal? Where did he get the money…_

Something conveniently crossed his mind.

_No, he can’t possibly steal my…_

Tokiya was about to inspect his wallet when his blue eyes caught the sight of ‘#HAYATOforlife’ hashtags.

_What. The. Heck. Is. This?_

A lot of fans shared their own recorded videos of their activities with HAYATO and Otoya but the most ‘captivating’ one was…

 ** **“Tokiya, you said that you wanted to debut as yourself. Does it mean you will get rid of HAYATO image completely?”****  A fan’s voice echoed.

 ** **“Nope, not a chance!”****  HAYATO denied, instantly. Tokiya literally could feel something snapped in his head. Probably his patience and composure.  ** **“HAYATO is my past and the reason why I stood here. I am glad to see in my SNS that there are so many HAYATO fans out there so there’s no way I will forget HAYATO. HAYATO for life!”****

 ** **“HAYATO for life!”****  The girls cheered back.

 ** **“We love you, HAYATO!”****  They continued with the cheers and in spite of how much his ears wanted to cry with bloody tears due to their very high-pitched screams, Tokiya was too angry to bother with the sound.

Instead, his head was imagining the pleasant sound of HAYATO’s throat when he twisted it to 360 degrees.

“Tokki, Otoyan, I am back… Woahh, so cold!”

The upbeat Reiji who just went back from his work could suddenly feel a very cold sensation, enveloping his already thick-layered frame. He was positive that this room was never this cold before but as soon as he turned his head into the bunk bed, he immediately could register the situation.

He literally could see a ‘werewolf’ on the top bunk, sitting up silently but with red eyes. Yet, instead of hunting animals, the blue-haired ‘werewolf’ was holding his phone silently.

“Tokki?”

“Hey, Tokiya! Have you seen this? HAYATO is…” Syo who was mindlessly running towards the cold room, followed by his other friends gasped in alarm to see a certain sight in the room. Like Reiji, he slowly leaned against the door, seeking for support.

The rest of STARISH members were also shocked to see a ‘monster’ on the top bunk.

“Is that… Is that Ichinose?” Masato’s blue eyes widened in an absolute terror.

“What happened with Tokiya-kun?” Natsuki remarked.

“I think he already knew it,  _Ochibi-chan_ ,” Ren said, calmly.

“Oi, Tokiya… Calm down…” Syo could not bother less with Ren’s  _‘Ochibi-chan’_  due to the alarm in his body. The small boy lifted both his hands in Tokiya’s direction, attempting to soothe the said blue head.

“Yeah, Tokki. Please calm down. We can find the solution together,” Reiji assisted even he did not have any idea what the hell was going on.

In the end, everybody in Master Course dorm literally lost their hearing temporarily due to Tokiya’s blood-curdling scream.

“HAYATOOO!!!!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter. Feel free to drop me a comment :D I want to know what you guys think about this story so far. ^^


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos! As for this story, did Syo call Ai by ‘Ai’? I am not sure about that and I apologize if I got it wrong. Feel free to tell me what is the correct one, guys.

_****A**** tetchy dandelion head, a stuck-up Elsa wannabe, a poker-faced scientist, and an ‘all-rainbow’ senpai but most likely had a dark past..._

_Hmm…_

_Come to think of it, all QUARTET NIGHT members have the personality traits which make them need someone innocent and nice like Nanami/Lady._

Was what Masato and Ren had in their minds. Since the dramatic ‘reunion’ between Haruka and HAYATO, the scions were brooding over what HAYATO said about their seniors while eyeing dangerously at Ranmaru. The said dandelion head was sitting comfortably on the sofa at the center of the room while taking a nap.

The childhood friends were so rapt and curious about the grumpy guy that their body naturally moved closer to him.

Meanwhile, Ranmaru twitched his eyebrows as for some reason, he no longer could feel the serene vibe that enveloped his muscular body after being annoyed all day at Reiji’s ‘Ran-Ran’ jokes.

Instead, he felt like he was watching a 5D horror movie with eyes closed.

_What’s with this feeling? Why do I feel like there are two sharks are going to attack me?_

Ranmaru opened his eyes which quickly sized up as a pair of ‘orange and blue sharks’ were staring at him in the same manner with Ai.

“What the hell are you guys doing here!?” The rocker shouted furiously, almost flipped from the sofa. The two poker faces were so scary that he almost threw his black headphones to them.

“No need to be so surprised, Ran-chan. We are your roommates. Of course we are here,” Ren said, casually. Masato and he were not even astounded when they found themselves standing next to each other, which seemed like they already mentally agreed to interrogate Ranmaru.

“You guys are standing like a pair of morons and you expect me not to be taken aback? What do you guys want from me!? It’s better not to be something stupid or else, two people will be dead meat tonight!”

“Of course it’s something smart. It’s about our future,” Ren said, followed by Masato’s nods.

“Huh!? To me, once it came from you, it sounded stupider.”

“Kurosaki-san, are you interested in Nanami?” Masato asked bluntly. This guy was even stranger and creepier. He always talked respectfully but there was something in his speech that made Ranmaru thought that the scion was mocking him. Unlike Ren who he could easily discern just why he disliked the guy’s presence, Masato remained as a mystery. He was well-bred so Ranmaru would be perceived as crazy if he told the pianist off.

“What!? Where the hell did it come from!?” The rocker was even more frustrated when no matter how daunting he sounded, his juniors did not even flinch. Working with his teammates every single day was onerous enough so he did not need his or somebody’s juniors to be tiring as well.

As if being forced to eat Natsuki’s cookies by the guy yesterday was not a sufficient agony…

“Just like what we normally see in  _shoujo_  dramas, the pessimistic Ran-chan will see something pure and lovely in Lady and he will end up falling in love with her,” Ren insisted on his conclusion which was profoundly influenced by HAYATO.

“I agree with you, Jinguuji.”

_Crap! How the hell did they know it!?_

“You are a _tsundere_  who always whines and swears but in fact, you’re just a lonely soul who needs someone who can understand you, right?” Masato remarked as he possessed Ai’s habit; staring at people’s face up-close.

“Shut up! Get out of this room, you weirdos!”

The night was dreadfully cursed since Ranmaru flipped his lid that he did not even bother to filter out his swearing.

* * *

****“Oi,****  Ai!”

“Syo-chan, calm down,” Natsuki interrupted, thinking that his friend was way too casual with their strict senior.

“What?” The poker face turned from his computer, sending his small but grumpy junior recoiled. “As usual, you have no sense of respect to your senior. Do you want me to include an ethics class in your schedule next time, Syo?”

“Hell, no! Please don’t!” Syo waved his hands at Ai’s face, desperately expressing his thought.

“I told you, Syo-chan,” Natsuki sighed. It was ironic when he wanted to protect Syo from being abused by Ai when in fact, he was way more menacing for Syo’s life.

“Then, please mind your manners when you talk with your senior,” Ai said, crossing his arms over his chest. His voice was way monotonic but God knew what he could do while maintaining his blank expression.

_Said a senior who claimed my height 100 cm._

“Did you say something in your mind?” In a flash, Ai stood up from his chair, staring at Syo up close.

“Huh? No, I am not!”

_Damn!_

“Oh, really? My data said that when a person shows an irritated face while looking straight at you, it shows that the person is talking bad about you in his mind.”

 _Does he even have data for that? Did he seriously conduct a research for everything?_ Natsuki pondered.

“I swear, I don’t!” Syo said, frantically. He dared to swear since he was positive that he did not exactly talk bad about the QUARTET NIGHT. He just criticized…

_Well, that’s the same with talking bad. Crap, am I going to die now?_

“Ai-chan, what do you think about Haru-chan?” Natsuki interrupted. It was the best moment for him to stop Ai from browbeating Syo… yet again.

“Huh, Haru-chan? Do you mean Nanami Haruka?” Ai asked back. A finger was pressed against his chin as a sweet girl image crossed his mind.

“Yeah, who else is… Natsuki?” Syo almost thought that Natsuki was strangling him from behind when what he actually did was hugging his neck tightly.

“Calm down, Syo-chan. Don’t talk back,” Natsuki murmured while still smiling at Ai. His big hand covered Syo’s mouth or to be exact, he was covering more than half of the face.

“Well, I don’t think anything about her. I don’t know what to think about her. But, since she is the composer of your debut song, I think she’s talented.”

“Then, when you listen to the song, don’t you admire and want to know more about her?” Syo asked after biting Natsuki’s palm and escaped from the deathly grip.

“I don’t think so. I don’t even know what is ‘admire’. Is it the feeling that you get when the person does something remarkable or something?”

 _What a pain,_ Syo thought. The childhood friends could not help but stare at his senior hopelessly like he just said something stupid.

Well, for a young adult standard, Ai did sound too naive.

For Natsuki and Syo, their senior had more ways to go. He did not even know what to feel in the first place.

* * *

****“Good****  morning, Ichinose.”

“Good morning, Tokiya-kun!”

“Wait, he just went past like that? How rude!” said the guy who was warned last night for being insolent to his senior, Syo. He scowled at Tokiya who was marching heatedly, could not care less about their very existence at the corridor.

“Tokiya-kun, are you okay!?” Natsuki shouted as loud as possible but in a fraction of a second, the blue head already disappeared. Up until now, they had no idea that Tokiya could move that speedy. “Otoya-kun, what’s wrong with Tokiya-kun? He seems angry about something.”

“I don’t know,” the redhead’s voice was surprisingly detached, unlike the usual him.

“Most probably HAYATO picked a fight with him,” Masato presumed while eyeing Otoya.

* * *

****‘No,****  I am not okay’ was the only thing that Tokiya managed to answer in his mind. HAYATO, the source of his unlucky events since a few days ago had destroyed his mood since this morning and maybe he would continue it in future.

After HAYATO and Otoya went back from entertaining their fans in the family restaurant, Tokiya did not fritter his time away from giving his alter ego a rap on the knuckles. He could not stand the way the guy just said whatever his loud mouth wanted.

Not to mention he just declared that he wanted to maintain his HAYATO-esque personality despite debuting as Ichinose Tokiya.

“What the hell is your problem, huh!? Why did you say something like that to my fans!?” He was positive that his loud voice would make HAYATO’s ears cried with blood but to no purpose. Instead, only Reiji and Otoya drew back when they were not the original targets.

“Because I am HAYATO, not Tokiya. Of course I don’t want to disappear from my fans’ sights. Plus, your fans are my fans too. I just entertained them in HAYATO-esque way. I don’t see anything wrong with that,” HAYATO said, ignoring Otoya’s poke in his arm. He could see how much Reiji and Otoya were intimidated by Tokiya’s spleen and to be honest, he did not like it.

It just showed that rather feeling close to each other, Tokiya was like a monster to them.

“You are Tokiya when you are out of Master Course dorm so the clown with the stupid smile is basically is not here anymore. I suggest you know your place and…”

“Hey, Tokiya. That’s a little mean, don’t you think so?” Otoya interrupted. His eyes were quivering as he could not stand to see any of his friends fought loudly. “HAYATO just wanted to entertain your fans, you know. You quitted being HAYATO just like that and it shocked everyone. Not to mention your real self is quite opposite with him. Of course they will take time to like the new you and…”

“It’s their problem if they don’t want to accept the real me! I don’t want to have anything to do with a shallow dullard like him! His image is very idiotic and I had to smile a lot…”

“What’s wrong with smiling a lot and act cheerfully? That’s what an idol supposed to do, right? You make it sound like you belittle people like him,” Otoya remarked sadly, making Reiji stood up from his bed anxiously. Once the sweetest person in that particular fight was on the threshold of anger or frustration; that was when he knew that the fight had reached the last straw.

Otoya’s defensive comment made Tokiya chuckled sardonically. His eyes did not only turn dark with anger. Instead, it was derisive for a soft-hearted guy like the redhead.

“Of course a person like you can understand someone like him. You never take things seriously. All you do is being nosy when in fact, I don’t care about you. You both are clowns who have nothing better to do other than pestering me. Did you get that? So, you should know your place too, Otoya. Someone like you can’t survive showbiz even if your life depends on it.”

HAYATO’s cheeky expression turned flat. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the pair of red eyes was gazing at Tokiya in shock. HAYATO held Reiji’s eyes, indirectly asking ‘what should we do now?’ but the senior just shrugged. Apparently, he was too busy with being surprised by Tokiya’s harshness.

Or maybe, he was upset since he was also a ‘clown’ like Otoya and HAYATO. From the way Tokiya talked so unfriendly when he was supposed to show his respect to the very experienced senior, it told HAYATO everything.

“Tokki, I don’t think you need to put it that way. Otoyan is just trying to help you,” Reiji said while stroking his back. He never thought that his well-behaved juniors would get themselves into a fracas like this. “What he meant was even if you disapproved what HAYATO did, you don’t need to be harsh. HAYATO was very nice with your fans after all and I think you can learn a lot from him. You don’t need to be serious all the time.”

“It’s okay, Rei-chan. Thank you for the explanation,” Otoya said, holding Reiji’s sleeve hem. He stiffly turned at HAYATO. “If that’s the case, let’s act clownish somewhere else, HAYATO. Somewhere that suits idiots like us. Besides, he treated you the same as how he treated me before so I hate to see the same thing happened to you.”

Call him strange and stupid but Otoya’s words which implying how much he was hurt felt like a stab through Tokiya’s heart. The blue head did not mean to hurt his roommate. It was like an outcome of his stress since HAYATO messed up his life.

Since then, Otoya no longer grinned at him nor pestered him. He only addressed and talked to Reiji and HAYATO while treating Tokiya worse than a wall. It was uncomfortable when the guitarist clearly disapproved when the pacifists Reiji and HAYATO tried to drag Tokiya into their conversation as well. It was a pain when Otoya did not acknowledge his existence so since then, Tokiya rarely spent his time in their room unless he was really tired and had to rest.

_But, wait…_

A pain? He should feel grateful to his Lord. Otoya did not disturb him anymore. He was too busy making HAYATO at home so…

It felt more peaceful… for the first time.

* * *

****“A…****  A date with you?” Haruka stuttered as she was still in HAYATO’s arms.

When Tokiya was silently reading in the library during his off day, his alter ego was swift to take the very first step that no one in STARISH had guts to do.

As for Haruka, bumping into Tokiya habitually was not enough. This morning, when she moseyed around the dorm while finding inspiration for Syo’s song, she came across HAYATO, who made a beeline towards his room after having a breakfast with other STARISH members. Haruka’s body balance was always weak and had a tendency to meet the floor as if the other person’s body was a wall. Unlike her previous encounters with Tokiya, she was lucky because this time, HAYATO was much quicker to catch her.

But apparently, he was slower to release her from his hold. Instead, HAYATO was busy smiling before asking her permission to bring her for a date out of nowhere.

“Yes!” the guy echoed cheerfully as he finally released his hold around her frame. “I am so bored to stay in dorm and Tokiya is spending all day by reading anyway. I think it’s safe to say this is a date with my fan.”

“Oh…”

* * *

****“Oh?”****  Haruka exclaimed, finally getting surprised at where and with who she ended up going to.

They were in a shopping complex. He said ‘a date’ but they did not do anything cheesy or cute. Just watching a comedy movie and playing in an arcade for hours instead of watching a horror (Tokiya’s favorite genre) or romantic movie and strolling in a park. It seemed to Haruka that HAYATO was so desperate to be as contrasting as possible compared to the mature Tokiya.

She never said yes to the date just like how the bride-to-be said yes to the dress but somehow, she just played along with HAYATO’s exhilaration. He chatted a lot and acted exactly the same with the on-screen version of him. He really knew how to carry a conversation with his fans every time he participated in a variety show or fan meeting. His smile was contagious and frankly speaking, it was almost a poison for Haruka’s brain which was supposed to generate ideas for STARISH’s singles.

Yet, since she was one of the few people who was lucky (?) enough to know Tokiya well at the same time, she found herself spending the rest of time imagining how out of character this Tokiya had been.

 _It must be hard for Ichinose-san to be this lively,_  she thought.

After buying a pink dress and a pair of hairpins for Haruka (since he asked Haruka to compete with him for basketball arcade game when she was bad at it), they both ended up sitting together on a bench in a nearby park, eating ice cream.

“Hmm!” Haruka exclaimed, relishing the chocolate flavor. It was perfect for the sunny day especially after being suddenly asked to play an arcade game with an idol.

She was oblivious with the fact that HAYATO was staring at her, smiling at his thought.

_Well, I know I will cringe but the more I spend time with her, the more I can see why Tokiya is interested in her. One of the reasons is… her naivety? That really sounds like Tokiya to be attracted with someone pure and hardworking like her._

He knew it sounded downright cheesy to feel attracted with a girl who ate ice cream deliciously but he could not help it. She was certainly not the most beautiful girl that he had ever met but her innocence, completed with her smile and personality were what made her charming. When he looked like he was too engrossed in their previous activities, he still managed to observe her. One of his favorite expressions of her was when she suddenly stopped walking and had a finger lifted. Her eyes would widen before a lovely smile crept over her lips. It was a sign that she just gained inspiration and so far, she had made the expression five times. Just what kind of melody did she get from the crowded and noisy shopping complex, HAYATO did not know.

“I am curious about this, Haruka-chan,” he said, attempted to stop himself from falling into the hole of Haruka’s harem. “Why does the way you address everyone in STARISH is inconsistent? You called all of them their family name with - _san_  except… Syo and Otoya, right?”

“Ah, yes,” she said. She never thought about this matter until HAYATO, out of all people questioned it. “I called Syo-kun in that way because he asked me to. I initially called him Kurusu-kun. As for Ittoki-kun, it’s maybe because his seat was near with mine back then in school and he was my partner for our first assignment.”

“I see. At least your reason is acceptable. Unlike Tokiya’s,” he said. He did find himself a new hobby; scorning at the said guy as soon as he woke up from sleep. “I don’t get this guy. He dislikes Otoya but he calls him with his first name. And then, there are Ren and Syo who are also being called by their first names just because they were his classmates but sometimes, he thinks they’re annoying and he rarely spends time together with Syo. Now, they are teammates and he still called Masato and Natsuki by their family names? Why must he make it complicated and sound like he doesn’t have to be closer to the guys? I bet if another guy joins STARISH, he will call the guy by his last name and it’ll be divided equally. Three guys with last names and three guys with first names.”

All Haruka did was chuckled awkwardly. She agreed with HAYATO but found it rude to share the same idea about Tokiya. Her reserved personality was one thing but she did not find her relationship with Tokiya was that casual to the point of she could scoff at him as she pleased.

She looked around as she finished her ice-cream. There were only a few couples who were in their own world; talking, shamelessly argued or flushed when they held hands.

Observing them especially the couple who held hands, it managed to spark an idea for a new song. Haruka took out an empty music sheet before scribbling across it. It was silent for a while as HAYATO himself gave her time to focus on her work.

“Done,” she muttered as she heaved a sigh of relief. She believed that the rest of the song would be finished in a jiffy.

She still needed more time to spend with a certain person so that she could gain more inspiration.

“Do you always bring your music sheets everywhere?” HAYATO initiated, eyeing the music sheet in her hand.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a habit,” she said, sheepishly. She felt bad for ignoring HAYATO for a while. “We don’t know how inspiration will hit us so I think it’s more convenient to bring them everywhere.”

“I see. May I take a look?” HAYATO stretched out his hand, feeling the smoothness of the sheet soon after that when she timidly passed it to him. He hummed using Tokiya-esque voice, soothing her right away. She always loved that sweet voice. “Well, the verses are fabulous and harmonious! No wonder you always got the best score in your course. You’re a real gem, Haruka-chan!”

“Thank you but… I don’t think I am that good, HAYATO-sama,” she said. A warm blush spread to her cheeks.

“Haruka-chan, please… don’t call me HAYATO-sama. You can call me HAYATO-kun or HAYATO. We live in the same place anyway. At least for the time being.”

“Well, if you insist… HAYATO-kun?” She repeated.

“Yeah, that sounds friendlier! You see, I don’t want anyone to feel awkward around me especially you, Haruka-chan. It’s only a few days since I’ve known you but I already found you admirable. You’re someone that I love to hang out with. Your attitude to working is just like Tokiya. He will fulfill his mind with his work and that’s why he can do everything perfectly. But, unlike you, he can’t balance his social life and career.”

“I see.”

 _I think it’s because Ichinose-san started working at a very young age so his job means a lot to him,_  she thought.

“I think you are a good match to him, Haruka-chan.”

“Huh?”

“Now tell me. What do you think about Tokiya?” The wide smile no longer crept over HAYATO’s face. Instead, his eyes were full of curiosity.

“About Ichinose-san…” She repeated uncertainly. “I think he has a great voice. He’s hardworking and…”

“No, I don’t mean his talent,” he said. That was not what he looked for. “I mean, what do you think of him as a man?”

That was when she could feel her whole face flushed with embarrassment.

_Ichinose-san as a man?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know what am I doing with this chapter. Sorry for making it crappy (T_T)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wasn't supposed to exist...

****While**** HAYATO was busy being nosy with Haruka’s honest thought on Tokiya, there were a few people who were much nosier while silently burning themselves in jealousy.

“Wow, come to think of it, this dude is super right,” Syo, one of the nosy people exclaimed from the nearby bushes. Agreeing with Masato’s suggestion, he already took off his fedora in order to avoid him from being recognized easily from a distance.

As previously mentioned, today was a day off which was the perfect day for them to follow Haruka and her idol all day. It started with Syo who managed to eavesdrop on HAYATO’s invitation for Haruka to spend time with him. The smallest member in STARISH immediately told and pestered everyone to tail the composer and her idol. The only guy who the fedora lover could not drag along was Ren who loved his sleep more than anything.

Okay. Ren still loved Haruka more than his sleep. However, the lazy but sagacious part of his brain had convinced him that rather than tailing someone and getting subsequently annoyed, it was better for him to dig deep into it from them later.

Long story short, here they were; spying on them as if they wanted to kidnap the girl but too afraid of the cheerful boy beside her.

“It sounds like Ichinose has been biased,” Masato remarked analytically. “At least for me, I call everyone by their last name.”

“I know, right? I wonder if Tokiya-kun doesn’t like to be with me,” Natsuki said, recalling the moment where Tokiya would smile awkwardly every time he asked the blue head to taste his biscuits or cupcakes.

“No worries, Natsuki. Tokiya calls me by my first name even he dislikes me,” Otoya said bitterly. “So either by first name or last name, it doesn’t make any difference.”

“Did you fight with Ichinose, Ittoki? Why do you look so strange today?” Masato asked. He noticed how sour the redhead looked, unlike his usually sunny demeanor.

“No, Masa. He just told me that he dislikes me since I am similar to HAYATO.”

“Then, that’s the same as a fight,” Natsuki said, his eyes uttered concerns. “Otoya-kun, I understand that you might feel upset but I believe Tokiya-kun didn’t mean it. Maybe he’s just too stressed out with HAYATO-kun’s presence.”

“Or maybe he’s just plain mean but I got what you wanted to say. Thanks, Natsuki,” Otoya replied weakly.

“I know the day would come when you and Tokiya would fight over your personality differences,” Syo sighed. “And one more thing, don’t believe Natsuki. I believe Tokiya really meant what he said.”

“Kurusu!”

“Syo-chan!”

“What!? Did I say something wrong?”

“Shhh!” Otoya grabbed Syo’s head, closing the small but blunt mouth.

“Done,” Haruka’s exclamation drew their attention back. She smiled in relief to see half of the music sheet in her hand got scribbled.

 _She always looks pretty every time she works hard. No, she’s always pretty in my eyes,_ that was probably what everyone in STARISH had echoed in their minds. Even now when they were close to each other, they did not realize yet that they had shared the same hobby; staring at Haruka with full interest whenever they stood a chance.

She meant so much in their lives. Her presence had saved them from their respective crisis and from solely being grateful, they ended up falling in love with her. If it was not because of the no-dating rule, they would let her know how much they treasured her and how much they wanted to spend their days with her.

“I wonder whose song she is writing,” Otoya mumbled, echoing others’ thought.

“She wrote it after she saw those couples. Obviously, it’ll be a romantic song,” Syo said. “And it’s obviously not mine! I can’t sing a love song for crying out loud!”

“Shut up, Kurusu! They’ll hear us,” Masato remarked, shooting a stern look at the blonde. “Maybe she wrote mine. I sang ‘Knocking on the Mind’ before and it’s a romantic song.”

“Yes, you sang it but you also composed it so I don’t think Nanami thought of you when she saw the couple,” Syo returned the stern look. It was most probably because Ren was not around so they decided to irritate each other instead.

“It’s most probably not mine either…” Natsuki said before something disappointing crossed his mind. “Could it be… that song is for Tokiya-kun?”

The other three sighed heavily, indicating that they agreed with Natsuki.

After all, Tokiya and Haruka looked so suspicious when they were still in Saotome Academy.

“Do you guys think Haru-chan has a feeling…” Natsuki initiated which immediately drew others’ upset eyes towards him.

“They did look suspicious before, right?” Syo said. “The Walking Ice somehow could open up with Nanami… I think that could spark something between them.”

“I don’t think Ichinose is that type of person. He worked hard and sacrificed everything to have the second debut. Plus, do you think he wants to ruin Nanami’s career as well? Just like us, he must know how meaningful for her to be a composer,” Masato reasoned out which he received slow nods from others.

_Yeah, that makes sense._

“I see. May I take a look?” HAYATO’s curious voice pierced their conversation before they could hear the guy humming the melody that Haruka just created. They quickly turned, only to be delivered with Haruka’s happy expression upon listening to his sweet voice.

_Ah…_

They realized that before Tokiya, they should feel intimidated by HAYATO first. The idea of Haruka looked interested in the blue head since he was HAYATO sounded more convincing now. It did not mean the composer liked him more than as a friend, though.

“I think we should go back now. My knees are aching from hiding,” Syo said which was returned with quick nods from others.

“Haruka-chan, please… don’t call me HAYATO-sama. You can call me HAYATO-kun or HAYATO. We live in the same place anyway. At least for the time being.”

But, HAYATO seemed to know how to make their blood boiled in jealousy more even he was oblivious of their presence, right behind their bench. The next conversation was far more interesting but also aggravating when the blue head complimented Haruka for her personality and…

“I think you are a good match to him, Haruka-chan.”

“Huh?” The girl’s eyes sized up.

“What?” Both Otoya and Syo exclaimed before turning back to the bench’s direction. Masato and Natsuki were already turning on their spy mode back, eavesdropped on their targets’ conversation intently.

“Now tell me. What do you think about Tokiya?”

“About Ichinose-san…” The fact that she looked nervous disturbed the four ‘spies’ so much. “I think he has a great voice. He’s hardworking and…”

“No, I don’t mean his talent. I mean, what do you think of him as a man?”

“What??” The other four exclaimed. For some reason, they still knew when to tone down their voice. At the same time, the fact that Haruka was blushing at the question was scary.

“She… she’s blushing? Why? Why would she blush if…” Syo also stuttered while pointing at Haruka’s red face in horror. “Plus, what kind of question is that? Why should Nanami think of Tokiya as a man?”

“No, no… I don’t think it means anything. Nanami also blushes when Jinguuji flirts with her even she hates him,” Masato said even his tone also suggested his anxiety.

“Masa, just because you hate Ren, it doesn’t mean everyone including Nanami will feel so. Why are you always so harsh towards Ren? Poor him,” Otoya said with a pout but Masato was too concerned about HAYATO’s agenda to answer the redhead.

“What does he think he’s doing? This pentagon…” Syo almost showed himself but Otoya quickly pulled him down back.

“Calm down, Syo!”

“He’s trying to corrupt Nanami’s mind! You guys should see how she looked like right now,” Syo remarked which the other three followed which direction his finger was pointing at.

“Huh?” As the S of STARISH had stated, Haruka looked more puzzled. Her eyes still stared at HAYATO’s, as if she could immediately read what the guy implied on had she done that.

“Oh, you don’t get it, huh?” HAYATO asked, gathering more words to paraphrase his seemed-to-be-perplexing one. “I mean… do you see any boyfriend material in him? Does he have the potential to be a good boyfriend?”

“Wow, this guy is so sly. Apparently, he wants to be their matchmaker,” Syo said as he angrily pulled some leaves from the innocent bushes. “I know it. He might pull a lot of pranks on Tokiya but he’s still Tokiya after all. Of course, he wants to make a move on Nanami as well. That pentagon… ” He almost unnecessarily ate the victimized leaves out of anger before Masato snatched them all.

Meanwhile, Haruka found that HAYATO’s set questions were much harder than Saotome Academy entrance exam.

“Ichinose-san? A good boyfriend?”

 _Wait! Is she still pondering about this because she doesn’t understand this question? How oblivious she could be?_   _Or is she a self-insert character in anime? That’s why she doesn’t respond to something like this._   _It’s up to the audience to imagine themselves as her and give their respective answer,_ HAYATO thought before something conveniently filled his mind.

_Ah, I see…_

“Or maybe he just doesn’t have a future as a good boyfriend,” HAYATO said with a charismatic nod, much to Haruka’s puzzlement. “Now, I know it. No wonder you have such a hard time to answer the question. It’s because Tokiya is a jerk.”

“Erkk?” Otoya’s and Syo’s eyes bulged out of shock.

“Saw that coming,” Masato muttered, silently heaving a sigh of relief.

“Tokiya-kun is a jerk? Where did it come from?” Natsuki remarked. Like Haruka, he also found HAYATO’s hidden agenda confusing. Just what did he try to probe into?

“No, HAYATO-san. I don’t… I don’t mean it that way!” Haruka waved her hands desperately.

She honestly never thought that Tokiya was a bad guy.

“I see. I am sorry for pushing you to answer such hard questions. Come to think of it, which part of that guy is good? Face it. He’s antisocial, arrogant, hot-tempered, mean, fussy and even rude to his senior. Even this morning, he insulted Otoya for being like me. Poor the guy.”

“Thank you so much, HAYATO. You’re right. Tokiya is mean,” Otoya suddenly cried before wiping his tears with Masato’s handkerchief which the blue head always ended up handing to him whenever there was a tragic encounter.

“What is this guy doing? Matchmaking or bashing Tokiya?” Syo inquired. At this rate, they swore they could see a big question mark on their respective head.

“Beats me…” Masato and Natsuki said in unison.

“Not to mention what he thinks about other guys too… It’s upsetting,” HAYATO added, much to the others’ surprise. “He thinks Natsuki is a crazy cook. That guy can’t even cook to save his life. He wishes Natsuki never shoves his disgusting soup into his mouth. As for Syo, that dude always thinks that his short temper does match his height. He said something like Syo tried too hard to be manly when in fact, he’s just plain annoying.”

“What was that!?” Syo almost jumped out of the bush before Otoya instantly holding him back.

“Don’t, Syo! From now on, you’re supposed to prove to Tokiya that your height doesn’t match your temper!”

“Shut up, Otoya!”

“Huh, what was that?” HAYATO could see the bushes behind him produced strange sound before casually deciding that it was the wind. “Masato… Hmm… I don’t think he ever insults that guy. Tokiya always sees Masato as a decent guy who can hold a conversation. As for Ren… despite he doesn’t like it when Ren teases him, he thinks Ren is tolerable because he’s mature and not childish like the other three.”

“What? Did… did Tokiya-kun really say that?” Natsuki remarked. He did not want to believe it but his mind forced him to put two and two together which later making HAYATO’s claim sounded so compelling. “It can’t be…”

“I don’t know what to think anymore. It’s shocking,” Masato supplied. Disappointment was written over his face.

“Why are you talking like he’s insulting you?” Syo asked.

“It’s because it still felt bad to have you guys insulted.”

“Tokiya should learn from you, Masa,” Otoya said. He no longer looked like the positive sunshine of the group. “That being childish like us doesn’t always mean a bad thing. Tokiya is just arrogant.”

“But he can’t help it, though. He thinks he has to be mature since he had undergone a tough life before,” Natsuki said with a blank face. He backed the said blue head since he could not believe his ears but his heart told him vice versa. He always admired Tokiya’s passion and talent so to hear something offensive like this…

“But it’s still offensive, Natsuki. Please snap out of it and let it into your thick skull! Tokiya underestimates us!” Syo’s sudden but dramatic leave finally blew their hidden activity.

“Syo, wait!” Otoya ran after the said guy, leaving the other four including the speechless Haruka and HAYATO froze on their respective spot.

“Guys, what are you…” HAYATO’s words were cut short by Masato’s raised hand.

“Just ignore us, HAYATO. We were just coincidentally passing here,” the scion stated calmly before leaving the spot. “Come on, Shinomiya. Let's go back to the dorm.”

Haruka could not believe her eyes. Given Natsuki’s always-smiling face now looked hurt as they left her and HAYATO, she knew they heard everything.

“Oh, my… did they hear everything?” She muttered anxiously. Her heart thumped fast at what would happen to their friendship from now on.

As for HAYATO, he might still look like he lost his words but…

He was smiling inside.

* * *

****It****  was evening and Tokiya who was at his second book decided to call it a day. He stepped out of the library, pondering on between making himself tea or hot milk when his teammates except for Ren were walking along the same corridor. Being aware that Otoya still did not forgive him, he smiled at the rest.

But much to his shock, no smiles were returned, including from Natsuki. Masato avoided his eyes while Syo…

“So, I am annoying and tried hard to be manly, huh? Thank you, Tokiya,” the small guy scoffed.

“What?”

“I am sorry if I have made you uncomfortable all this time, Tokiya-kun. I promise I won’t force you to eat my cooking again,” Natsuki said with the weakest voice that Tokiya ever heard from someone bubbly like him.

Their words ripped his heart. As much as what they said was right, he was surprised that they would know it. He was positive that he never told anyone about this. It was all bottled up in him so how did they know?

This moment was so confusing and slow for him until Syo suddenly turned his heels and pounced on him. A pair of small hands grabbed Tokiya’s collar, much to others’ panic.

“Kurusu, stop it!” Masato and Natsuki tried to hold him back but Syo’s eyes were only engrossed in glowering at Tokiya.

“If that’s what you think about us all this time, it’s up to you. I don’t want to care anymore but please do something about Nanami. Don’t you ever hurt her and be a coward,” with the words which obviously meant business, Syo released his grip before leaving Tokiya, followed by Natsuki and Otoya.

_What the… what happened to Nanami-san now?_

“Can you guys at least explain what’s going on to me?” In desperation, he who was normally calm could not help but raised his voice.

However, only Masato bothered to turn, only to shoot his frustrated look before making his way towards his room.

Tokiya was standing there. Still and shocked until someone patted his shoulder.

“Yo, Icchi,” he was greeted with a wink from the ladies man of the group. Judging from his scent of shower cream, Tokiya could assume that he just took a shower. As expected from a non-early bird like Ren.

“What?”

“Given your typically annoyed face, I assume you still don’t know, huh? Or else, I’ll see your pale but cute face.”

“About what?”

* * *

****HAYATO**** was skipping along the corridor after a fun date with Haruka.

At least for him, it was fun even he could see how worried and scared the composer was after what had happened to them.

It was normal for him as an ex-idol but for Haruka, it was a tad disturbing and scary.

So, he knew the moment someone suddenly grabbed his arm before dragging him into a library with no single souls except for them, it was because somebody did not see his date as fun.

“What the heck did you do, huh!? Why did you cause a gossip between me and Nanami-san? What’s with the date without my consent?” Tokiya exploded right away, releasing his grab around HAYATO’s arm harshly.

What Ren showed him just now was aggravating and asking for a punch. The gossip about ‘him’ dating a staff from Shining Agency circulated faster and people started to question the truth of it. It all started when someone uploaded a photo of HAYATO and Haruka in a park. Sure, HAYATO was in disguise but a lot of fans nowadays seemed to be way smarter and could recognize their favorite idols after careful observation.

“What’s wrong with that? You love her anyway, right?” HAYATO said, nonchalantly. The more Tokiya looked at his grin, the more irritating it turned out. “At least it’s with someone that you’re comfortable with. How bad could it be? You can just say she’s your friend, STARISH’s composer or cheerleader, right?”

“What the heck are you trying to say? Why should I come up with those excuses when all you have to do is not causing any gossip at all!? Since you created the mess, you’re the one who should solve it.”

“Nah, don’t want. It’s a pain,” HAYATO yawned which was obviously fake. “I am so tired. Haruka and I went out all day so I want to sleep.”

“Not so fast,” Tokiya grabbed and pulled his collar, making them face each other again. “I won’t allow you unless you clear up the misunderstanding. You know my password, right? Use it properly to explain everything in my social media instead of blackmailing me!”

“I told you I don’t want. HAYATO is not supposed to exist, remember?” HAYATO said and for a second, Tokiya could spot something dark about the way the guy looked at him. He was stunned until HAYATO slapped his hand from clutching his collar. “HAYATO is not supposed to exist. I went out as Tokiya and that’s the permission that the president gave to me. So, you’re the one who should clear up the mess because basically, Tokiya was the one who broke the ‘no dating’ rule. Not HAYATO.”

“What the heck is wrong with you, huh?” Tokiya’s voice shook with exasperation but for HAYATO, it did not scare him at all. Instead, he simpered at the blue head. “What are you trying to achieve? Why are you always causing me troubles?”

“The answer is… It’s because HAYATO has revenge that he wants to take on.”

“What?”

HAYATO smirked. It was certainly weird for Tokiya to see himself smirking while using his name instead of ‘I’ but at the same time, he still could feel the chill down his spines.

“You debuted as HAYATO since you were thirteen. In order to be him, you lost contact with your parents and you didn’t even make friends. All you knew was your work. You made HAYATO as an outgoing and friendly person but he didn’t even have a friend. So, HAYATO was so lonely. HAYATO wanted friends because he’s outgoing and friendly. HAYATO wanted to debut in a team instead of being a solo artist,” the guy’s high voice slowly resembled a psychotic kid. Not to mention his eyes widened as each syllable escaped his lips.

“What the heck are you…”

“Then, after you debuted as a STARISH member, HAYATO found that your life is very amazing. You have friends all the time. You have a very caring roommate and senior like Otoya and Rei-chan. The other guys are also so fun and kind. And… you even have Haruka-chan as your supporter. How lucky are you. HAYATO is soooo jealous of you, Tokiya.”

Call him dramatic or paranoid but judging from how many gore or thriller movies he had watched before, he somehow could understand what HAYATO had implied on.

“But you never appreciated anything under your nose. You whined when you debuted as HAYATO when he was the reason why you could sing and make money. And now, when you have a bunch of friends who support you, you are still being arrogant and you even belittle them. Just what’s wrong with you? You insulted Otoya when he’s sincere to help you. And Haruka-chan? Be a pro and let’s work hard? Really? Huh, your sharp tongue just ruined everything. That girl doesn’t even see any boyfriend material from you. I think that’s something that you should reflect on. I don’t think you deserve this perfect life because you don’t even appreciate it.”

“That’s enough, HAYATO.”

“Then HAYATO decided that it is so embarrassing to share the same body and identity with you. HAYATO was thinking that if you aren’t going to appreciate them, HAYATO will just make them turn their backs on you. Oh, no! HAYATO already did that. HAYATO just made your friends hate you. Too bad. You don’t underestimate Masa and Ren. You still respect them or else, the whole group will despise you and I’ll be so glad.”

“What?” He blurted out a question but he knew exactly what the guy meant as his friends’ sour faces reached his mind.

HAYATO chuckled before wearing the psychotic expression again, “HAYATO is saying that your friends knew what you thought about them. If you think Natsuki is being strange by not asking you to taste his cooking again, it’s because they overheard what HAYATO had told Haruka-chan. Maybe God also hates you and wants HAYATO to have your life instead.”

Whatever insults and scolding that his mind had kept since Ren showed him the pictures of HAYATO and Haruka ended up being stuck in his throat. He was scared to see HAYATO behind this new mask. He was intimidated by HAYATO’s declaration of revenge and…

He was alarmed at the fact that no matter how collected he tried to be, HAYATO knew every single of his true feeling since they shared the same mind.

“But I bet you’re happy right now, right? Otoya won’t annoy you anymore and Natsuki won’t disturb you with his food again. Congratulations for the peace that you have waited for because… HAYATO will never stop until he ends up being you. He will never give up until he becomes real while you… you’ll be forgotten by this world just like how people slowly forget about HAYATO.”

This time, Tokiya was desperate to see the stupidly smiling HAYATO again instead of this particular kind of face.

This was screamingly creepy.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me what do you think about this chapter, okay? Bye~


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